Date: 10 March, 2025
Venue: Online
A webinar in Hindi was organised by BhāratShakti on the theme of Shiva, The Lord of Tapas on March 10, 2025 to celebrate the holy occasion of Mahashivaratri. The programme involved a talk by Dr. Charan Singh Kedarkhandi and musical offering by Ms. Biswajita Mohapatra.
About 25 people joined the online satsang on Monday afternoon. The session began with an introductory address by Dr. Beloo Mehra who welcomed all the participants and the guest speaker. She highlighted that according to Sri Aurobindo, Shiva represents the dimension of Tapas. She also presented a short video featuring “Shiva” a sonnet written by Sri Aurobindo.
Ms. Biswajita Mohapatra then introduced the speaker for the event. Dr. Charan Singh Kedarkhandi is a poet, thinker, spiritual seeker and a student of the Indian knowledge tradition. He lives and works in Jyorimath, Uttarakhand. Widely respected as an authority on Sri Aurobindo’s poetry, yoga and philosophy, Dr. Kedarkhandi writes and speaks about the spiritual vision of the Mother and Sri Aurobindo. He is the founder member of Sri Aurobindo Study Centre, Jyotirmath (Uttarakhand) and also edits the centre’s annual bilingual magazine Anukampa, the Grace Divine.
Dr. Charan Singh Kedarkhandi began his talk by saying those of us who have come into the circle of influence of the Mother and Sri Aurobindo are the fortunate ones and the Mother herself had assured that their lives would be guided by Her power and guidance. Speaking on Shiva, Dr Charan Singh said that Shiva represents the force of destruction and no great work of creation is possible unless founded upon a base of a preceding destruction.
He cited the instance of the devastation that took place in Kedarnath in 2013 and was of the opinion that in it, Shiva sounded a small warning to the commercial/utilitarian culture that is wreaking havoc with the pristine beauty and sanctity of the Himalayas which according to Swami Vivekananda preserved the best memories of the race in the form of spiritual seeking of countless sages through the centuries.
Thereafter, he read out a poem composed by him describing the calamity that hit Kedarnath in 2013 which made a deep impression on him. Hr maintained that Shiva represented compassion – karuna sagar and the destruction was actually an act of “saving by killing.”
Dr. Kedarkhandi talked about the natural marvels of the Himalayas – like high altitude meadows (which are called Bugyals in the local language), crystal clear lakes formed by the melting glaciers, the Brahma Kamal and other types of flowers and medicinal herbs – which were all, in his eyes, a part of the Shivaloka whose presiding deity is Shiva. Then he quoted a few lines from Savitri which talk about the Divine being expressed in all the forms and appearances – both beautiful and the terrible. He connected this point with a reminder that the tapasya of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother was not for a limited number of people but for earth consciousness itself.
Dr. Kedarkhandi expressed his concern that the present political establishment does not have the necessary sensitivity and spiritual vision to see the Himalayas as an abode of Shiva and are trying to develop the Devabhumi with heavy infrastructure and generally treating it as a tourist destination rather than the most sacred abodes of pilgrimage. He feared that if the present rate of gross interference with the Himalayan continues unabated, it could destroy the Shiva tattva that is present in the sacred landscape and may once again invite the wrath of Shiva.
Finally, he shared a few insights on Shiva from Ananda Coomaraswamy’s book The Dance of Shiva as well from some lines from Savitri.
The presentation was followed by a lively question-answer session in which several points about the symbolism of Shiva were addressed.
The programme concluded with a musical offering by Ms. Biswajita Mahapatra, Research and Admin Assistant, BhāratShakti. She chanted a Shiva mantra and a nice devotional song in Odia. The online celebration of Shiva Tattva was appreciated by all the participants.